1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to magnetic sensors that use a magnetoresistive element and that can detect a vertical magnetic field component.
2. Description of the Related Art
Magnetic sensors using a magnetoresistive element can be used as geomagnetic sensors that detect the earth's magnetic field and are built into mobile apparatuses, such as cellular phones.
A geomagnetic sensor is configured to be capable of detecting magnetic field components in the X-axis and Y-axis directions orthogonal to each other in a horizontal plane and in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction) orthogonal to the horizontal plane.
International Publication No. WO2011/068146 discloses a magnetic sensor that uses a magnetoresistive element and that can detect a vertical magnetic field component. In International Publication No. WO2011/068146, a vertical magnetic field component is converted into a horizontal magnetic field component using a soft magnetic material, and the soft magnetic material and a magnetoresistive element are arranged such that the converted horizontal magnetic field component can be input into the magnetoresistive element.
A magnetic sensor, which is built into, for example, a cellular phone as described above, receives a disturbance magnetic field from a loud speaker or the like.
At this time, when the disturbance magnetic field acts from the sensitivity axis direction of a magnetoresistive element and the vertical magnetic field component of the earth's magnetic field is input at the same time, the disturbance magnetic field is superimposed on the horizontal magnetic field component (the earth's magnetic field) which has been converted by the soft magnetic material, that is, the horizontal magnetic field component is biased and, hence, the sensitivity of the magnetoresistive element changes from that in a state in which no disturbance magnetic field is generated, whereby the earth's magnetic field cannot be detected with high accuracy.
These and other drawbacks exist.